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ISBN: 978-0-9849318-0-4
Sri Caitanya Sangha 2012.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Sri Caitanya Sangha.
Printed in the U.S.A.

Dedication
To my spiritual master and dearmost friend,
Pjypda A. C. Bhaktivednta Swm Prabhupda.

T a b l e o f C o n t e n ts
Introduction.............................................................. vii
1. In Search of Joy..................................................... 1
2. Affectionate Guardian......................................... 5
3. Revealed Sound.................................................. 11
4. Conceptual Orientation..................................... 15
5. The Means........................................................... 23
6. The Goal.............................................................. 31

Introduction
We cannot say that we do not exist. We cannot experience nonexistence. Although there are those who
would argue for the joy of no self, this book was
written primarily for those who sense that our individual existence is not something to do away with
in the name of enlightenment. Joy of Self is about our
identity in transcendence.
Recently a young man asked me about the ego. If
the ego is so bad, he queried, why do we have it in
the first place? I told him that the ego is not bad, for
ego indicates identity. We all have an identity. We are
all individuals. However, our present sense of individuality is based on our identification with matter in the
form of our bodies, minds, and the extensions of these
in all that we call ours. This identity is a false one, a
false ego.

vii

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Joy of Self

All of the major traditions of Eastern spirituality and

many traditions of the West tell us in so many words
that our present individual identity is based on material
misidentification and is thereby false. What they do not
tell us is what this book is about. They do not tell us that
we have an individual identity to realize in transcendence once we have dissolved the false ego.
If material natures offer for lasting joy is but false
advertising, seeing through this sham is to see deeply.
By moving from negative numbers to zero, we will feel
that we have progressed. The Buddhist notion of fullness in emptiness stops at zero. There is no doubt a fullness in realizing the emptiness of material life, but can
we progress from zero to positive numbers? If so, we
will have to look even more deeply into the mystery of
our self. So doing, devotional Vednta informs us that
we can realize the joy of self, the pure self, free from the
exploitation that is characteristic of the false self born of
material identification.
This book is an introduction to the devotional Vednta of r Chaitanya, Gauya Vednta. r Chaitanya, the fifteenth-century Ka avatra who personified a life of divine love, left in writing only eight Sanskrit stanzas. Yet his immediate followers churned these
drops of nectar into an ocean of literature on divine love.
This introduction draws from their writings and the sacred literature of spiritual India such that anyone can
gain a well-rounded acquaintance with the foundational

Introduction

ix

philosophical principles of Gauya Vednta and thus

come to know the potential for joy inherent in the self.

1. In Search of Joy
Gauya Vednta is a metanarrative that is deeply
philosophical yet readily accessible to even the most
common person. It speaks to us of joy and a life of love
that never ends. If we embrace it, we will experience
this love and never lose it due to the influence of time.
All living beings are in search of joy. We pursue joy
directly and do so indirectly when we try to avoid distress. Although one of the four noble truths of the Buddha is that life is about suffering, the Buddha himself
teaches how to end suffering, which is indirectly the
pursuit of joy. So also are the masochists, sadists, and
those labeled suicidal in search of joy. In this search for
joy we are all one; we differ, however, in what our conception of joy is.
In another sense, we do all want the same type of
joy: that which is everlasting. Therefore, it might be more

Joy of Self

accurate to say that we are looking for the same thing

but looking in different places. Yet the joy we find in this
world is fleeting at best.
Joy derived from material objects will never be everlasting. Why is this so? Material objects are transitory.
Like foam on waves, material manifestations, from our
small bodies to gigantic solar systems, appear for some
time and disappear forever. Where do they go? From
whence they came. We, on the other hand, are not the
fleeting experience of material joy. We are the experiencers. We are consciousness and we possess consciousness,
or the power of experiencing.
We often hear that absence of experience of the soul
is justification for its dismissal. For the Vedntin, however, experience itself is the soul. Experience is the function of consciousness, and consciousness is that which
cannot be dismissed, since dismissal itself is a conscious
act. We can dismiss all, from our own bodies to the entire universe, in our search for enduring joy, for all material manifestations will vanish. If, therefore, we are to
be successful in our search for joy, we must look not to
matter, but to the very consciousness of which we are
constituted. To experience joy, we must find ourselves in
the maze of matter.
The search for joy is in reality the search for self. It is
only because we project our own self into material objects that we seem to derive pleasure from them. When
we conceive of material objects as mine, we in effect

In Search of Joy

enter those objects and seem to derive pleasure from

them. In reality, however, it is our self that has entered
those objects, and it is the same self that is the basis of
the joy we experience in relation to those objects. Thus
close scrutiny reveals that it is consciousness alone in
which pleasure is found, and we are a unit of consciousness. Yet how can we find ourselves and from whence
do we come? These are the important questions for human society.
As human beings, we have the capacity to reason. In
one sense the universal human language is that of reasoning. Unfortunately, all in human dress do not speak
it. If we learn the language of reasoning and are thus directed by intelligence, we will reach the conclusion that
logic itself is limited. It can lead us to the self, yet it cannot reveal the self, for intelligence is but a subtle material manifestation and is thus inferior to consciousness.
Consciousness, the self, animates body, mind, and intelligence. It brings these gross and subtle material manifestations to life by lending itself to them. How then can
intelligence be the guide of the soul? Our guide must
possess greater knowledge than us. Thus intelligence
cannot reveal the soul any more than a candle can shed
light upon the sun. Intelligence can, however, point us in
the selfs direction, just as in darkness a candle can lead
us to light.
As a ray of sun is separated from the sun by a
cloud, we are apparently separated from our source by

Joy of Self

the cloud of illusion. The supreme suneternal joy and

consciousness personifiedis the source of both its own
rays and the cloud of illusion. Thus, as rays of consciousness now illusioned by the cloud of ignorance, we must
connect ourselves with our source and thus overcome
the material illusion. In our search for joy we must find
the reservoir of consciousness, with whom we are one
yet at the same time different. To comprehend our inconceivable nature, we require help from beyond the
limits of logic. We require more than human effort. We
require grace, divine grace.
Although it may not be popular to advocate our dependence on another, when we understand this principle
philosophically through the metanarrative of Gauya
Vednta, we will realize the extent to which true independence is realized in divine dependence. Unlike Buddhism,
monistic Vednta, and other popular Eastern paths to
perfection, Gauya Vednta is a devotional path with
emphasis on grace. Gauya Vednta as exemplified by
r Chaitanya offers much to those who are in search of
joy. He and his subsequent followers have presented a
doctrine of divine love well reasoned and easily accessible to all. In our search for joy we would do well to consider its principal tenets.

2 . Affectionate Guar dian

Godhead alone can guide us in our search, yet he
chooses to do so through a particular agent. God is
our guru, and yet our guru is not God. Although this
may sound contradictory at first, Gauya Vednta
makes clear this apparent contradiction, revealing a
most charming notion of eternal guidance that can
dispel all human apprehension.
In the modern world, we have seen a good number
of totalitarian regimes and less-than-spiritual religious
leaders. From politicians to popes, gestapos to gurus,
we have learned to be cautious about claims of absolute
knowledge. It is no wonder then that we are hesitant
when Gauya Vednta speaks of the necessity of and
utter dependence on the guru.
Who will mediate between humanity and divinity?
Dont all souls have the potential for a personal relation-

Joy of Self

ship with God, without the need of a chaperone? In the

language of love, Three is a crowd. Furthermore, dependence on another, it would seem, hinders one from
standing on ones own two feet. Can we not think for
ourselves? Do the enlightened themselves have gurus?
If they had any necessity at some point in their eternal
progress, it would seem at best that such necessity was a
relative one, rendering the principle of guru dispensable
at some point. All of these doubts and misconceptions
regarding the principle of guru must be cleared up if we
are to be successful in our search, for the guru is an eternal necessity for all souls.
Gurus are, in the simplest of terms, teachers. What
do they teach? They teach how to serve God. To do so,
they themselves must be servants of the Godhead. If
they teach service to God, what have we to fear from
them? If, on the other hand, they teach service to themselves and take the position of being the enjoyers of all
of our service, there is good cause for reservation. If they
teach that they are God, they are not gurus.
Those who posit absolute monism teach that all individuality is illusion. For such monists, all is ultimately
one and there is no other. In place of this doctrine of
absolute monism, Joy of Self suggests a more nuanced
understanding of ultimate reality that finds room for
individuality without compromising unity. The text
posits a form of devotional Vedantaa doctrine of wise
lovein which the individual self unites in love with its

Affectionate Guardian

source, experiencing a unity of will with the Absolute: a

oneness in purpose but a nuanced ontological difference
in identity.
The philosophy of monism posits that atomic particles
of consciousness are but an appearance, an illusion.
This philosophy has been thoroughly dealt with in
the many writings of Gauya Vedntas self-realized
cryas, or spiritual masters. It would be prudent for
the serious spiritual aspirant to go through both these
cryas commentaries on sacred literature, such as
Bhagavad-gt and rmad Bhgavatam, as well as the
books they themselves have authored. It should suffice
herein to underscore the tenet of the Gauya Vaiavas
that the atomic soul is not an illusion, while at the same
time in material life the soul is absorbed in an illusory
identity. Removing this illusory identity in the context
of the culture of devotional Vedanta, we realize our
likeness to the Godhead but not that we ourselves are
the entirety of the Absolute. In the latter conception,
both God and atomic soul ultimately cease to have any
relevance, as does any means of such realization. In later
chapters these important points will be dealt with in
greater detail.
Although gurus are not God, neither are they to be
considered as merely atomic souls bound in the net of
material illusion. Gurus are servants of God as are all
souls, yet they are servants who have realized the truth
of their eternal servanthood. With regard to service, it

Joy of Self

should be noted that service in itself is not a bad thing.

The value of service depends on who is served. If it is
indeed God whom we are taught to serve, such service is
in no way demeaning, for the Godhead is the perfect object of love. Service reposed in God through the agency of
guru is the most dignified engagement for all souls. Those
who conceive of themselves as nothing more than eternal servants of the Godhead represented in their own
guru are fit to serve in the capacity of guru themselves.
Gurus are those souls who have emptied themselves
of all selfish considerations arising from material mis
identification. As such, they are filled with the spiritual akti, energy of Godhead, to do Gods work in this
world. As the ambassador of the United States is highly
regarded in a foreign country, similarly the guru, although not God himself, should nonetheless be highly
honored, for it is God alone whom the guru represents.
Moreover, gurus represent Godhead in the manner in
which God chooses to interact with humanity. Thus in
one sense gurus are more important to us than God himself, yet they never think themselves so.
Real gurus have no disciples, though many see
themselves as such, and gurus honor their vision, inspired as it is by the Godhead. Their own angle of vision
is that they are servants of all, for all are but parts and
parcels of God. They do not see others independently of
their relationship with the Absolute. Their task is thus to
share this vision with all whom they encounter.

Affectionate Guardian

Gurus are our bright spiritual prospect appearing

before us to instruct us through both precept and practice. Their affection for the bound souls is itself without
bounds. They never tire of revealing the spiritual reality. Thus genuine spiritual aspirants are forced not by
ordinary law but by all reason and ultimately love and
affection to submit to the gurus instruction and to love
r guru eternally, for who could have shown us greater
love?
How shall we find such an affectionate guardian?
Because the path of devotion and transcendence has
been traversed by others, a map has been charted and
left for us to follow. On that map, first and foremost we
are directed to the information counter. Sacred literature
charts our course, and in doing so, points us in the direction of r guru, the captain of our ship. From sacred
literature we can learn the qualifications of the agent of
the Absolute, and therein we are implored to take the
gurus shelter. With these two, map and guide, scripture
and guru, on the boat of our human birth, fueled by the
wind of our own sincerity, we are well equipped to cross
the ocean of material suffering and reach the shore of
eternal joy.

3. Revealed Sound
The concept of scripture is no less difficult for modern
society to embrace than that of r guru. Yet scripture
is as inseparable from the eternal guide as the sun is
inseparable from our eyes in our attempt to see. If the
guru and saint are our eyes, scripture is the sun. If all
three are in place, we can see.
From the scripture we learn the qualifications of
the guru, whose every word must be backed by scriptural reference for it to have spiritual standing. This is
so because the scripture is the eternal reality manifest in
sound to the seers and written down by them to uplift
us. As such, scripture is eternal. It manifests and at times
is unmanifest, as is the world itself.
The many now interested in what has been called
Eastern mysticism are wrong in construing that such
teachings are mystical rather than rational and based on

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Joy of Self

the scripture. Christianity has been long and accurately

portrayed as a rational, scripturally based doctrine, but
no less so is the theism of the Orient. Outside of atheistic
doctrines such as Buddhism and Jainism, practically all
branches of Indian philosophy draw heavily from sacred
literature, the Vedas and Puras.
Although there is a similarity between the sacred
literature of the Orient and the Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah, and the Islamic Koran, there is considerable
difference as well. The difference lies primarily in the
Oriental notion of the eternality of the Veda. While the
Bible, Torah, and Koran all have a beginning in time, the
Veda is held to be beginningless. The fact that it is written
down by human hand does not compromise its eternality.
The Veda is Brahman, the Absolute, in sound. It is
the Absolute extending itself to humanity, perfection
speaking to the imperfect. By imperfect means, we who
are steeped in imperfection stand little chance of knowing that which is perfect. Both our sense perception by
which we know and the logic that extends our knowledge beyond that which we can perceive with the senses
are imperfect instruments.
Sense perception is as flawed as are the senses themselves. With our eyes alone we will never know the size
and nearness of the full moon at night. Yet with the help
of reasoning we can understand that it is large, its apparent smallness owing to its being situated at a great distance. Yet as sense perception is faulty, so is reasoning

Revealed Sound

13

lacking. This is so because unless we can validate that

our reasoning is true in all circumstances, that it has universal concomitance, we cannot say that it is absolutely
true. Demonstrating this universal concomitance is virtually impossible for practically any logical inference.
How then can we know for certain? How can we arrive at perfect knowledge and thus be perfectly happy?
Only if perfect knowledge cares to reveal itself to we
who are imperfect. The finite soul can never know the
infinite save and except if the infinite, out of its infinite
capacity, chooses to reveal itself to the finite. Perfect
knowledge is just that, perfect, and therefore it is worshippable by those steeped in imperfection. We will
never be successful in attempts to arrest perfect knowledge and imprison it within the jail cell of our human
embodiment, for its own agenda is to liberate us from
our finite conception. It makes this agenda known to us
through the Veda, which is etymologically derived from
the Sanskrit root vid, which means to know as well as to
make known. The Veda is thus that which makes itself
known and by which all can know conclusively.
The Veda does not claim that by studying its
words with our intellect we will know the truth. It does
not attempt to establish that which is eternally selfestablished. It is the self-established truth imploring us
to take up the means of experiencing the truth ourselves.
By this alone shall we know, yet hearing from those who
have themselves seen is tantamount to seeing oneself.

14

Joy of Self

The Veda, eternal sound, is experienced by the seers

beyond the confines of time and space. Returning to time
and space, they share their vision with us, thus serving
as first-hand witnesses to the truth. Without them and
without the Veda, we will never know the truth, for
from those who have seen we derive the necessary
inspiration to see for ourselves. They also give us a
proper conceptual orientation, the systematic means
of pursuit, and information regarding the goal. These
three, known as sambhanda, abidheya, and prayojana, are
the essential elements of sacred literature, and a brief
explanation of these elements comprises the balance of
this short book.

4 . Conceptual Or ientation
The term sambandha literally means relationship.
In the context of Gauya Vednta, it represents
knowledge of the relationship between the world and
God, God and the atomic souls, the atomic souls and
the world, and so on. In the rmad-Bhgavatam, the
essence of the Veda, all knowledge that concerns the
nature of the Absolute and his energies as well as the
activities of those energies is considered sambandhajna.
Although the Absolute as described in the Bhgavata
is one without a second, he is not without energy. The
existence of the Absolute is a dynamic affair on account
of his being possessed of various energies. Just as we
are all possessed of energy by which we conduct our
affairs, so the Absolute is replete with energies. The
oneness of the Absolute, however, is not compromised

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Joy of Self

by its possessing energy, for although we can speak of

energetic and energy as different, they are at the same
time inseparable.
In the monistic schools of Vednta, the Absolute is
portrayed as devoid of energy. Monists conceive of the
Godhead as such because they cannot understand how
an Absolute replete with energy can at the same time be
singular. The unfortunate result of pursuing this line of
reasoning is, among other things, that all that we see and
experience, including the sense of our own individuality,
is rendered an illusion. Moreover, the material experience is considered an illusion that has no logical explanation. The material experience is false knowledge purported to have no knower and no known.
Gauya Vednta can save us from this confusion.
Explaining the Absolute as presented in the Bhgavata,
Gauya Vednta posits an Absolute that is singular in
principle yet plural in terms of experience. The Godheads experience of himself is made possible by his
inherent energies. Because these energies have no independent existence from the Godhead, they are in
this sense one with him. The happy result of this conception is that a logical explanation of the world of
our present experience follows. The material world
is understood to be the external energy of the Godhead. Furthermore, our own sense of individuality is
validated, we being an atomic particle of the Godheads
marginal energy.

Conceptual Orientation

17

In touch with the external energy, the marginal energy brings about the world as we know it. While matter is insentient, sentient beings bring matter to life. The
atomic souls animate the material world, which like a
movie has a beginning and an end. Although the movie
ends, karmic reruns play endlessly with the same actors in new roles. As atomic souls reincarnate life after
life due to their misidentification with matter, they are
unaware of their predicament due to the deluding influence of the external power of Godhead. Material nature
rules over the atomic souls, even though her capacity to
do so is initially dependent on her being animated by
them. The relationship between the marginal and external powers of Godhead can be compared to a person in
the modern world turning on the insentient television
only to have it then take over his life.
In this life of material despair, we may misconstrue
that we are happy. Yet time tells us that the happier we
are, based on material security, possessions, friends, and
family, the more miserable we will be when they all slip
through our fingers, and our own attachment to temporary things forces us to remain in a temporal plane
in search of eternity. Birth and death are not friends of
those in quest of the fountain of youth. Yet it is these two
whom we must contend with as long as we insist upon
the kingdom of God without God.
In conjunction with the external energy, the activities
of the atomic souls, parts and parcels of the Godheads

18

Joy of Self

marginal energy, are illusory, however profoundly we

may speak of them. Although units of eternity and joy,
conscious atomic souls such as ourselves are trapped
in a network of illusion. Identifying with the external
energy of Godhead, we repeatedly experience the trib
ulations of birth and death. The solution to our plight
lies first in knowledge, not only of this predicament, but
even more so in knowledge of the Godhead himself.
The Godhead has his own primary energy by which
he conducts his affairs aloof from the material atmosphere. These affairs are termed ll in the Bhgavata.
They are untouched by the external energy and are thus
never subject to the misery that we experience due to the
external energy. Because we are constituted of the marginal energy, we can live either under the influence of
the external energy of Godhead or under the influence of
his primary energy. The former is the life of misery we
are now experiencing, the latter the life of joy we are in
search of.
Who is this Godhead possessed of primary, external,
and marginal powers? The Bhgavata tells us that it is
Ka. Ka means all attractive, irresistible. Ka
is joy himself. Because he is so, he also is known in terms
of his cognitive and existential features, as Brahman and
Paramtm respectively.
For one to exist, one need not be cognizant. If, however, one is cognizant, one must exist as well. One can
exist and be cognizant without being joyful. But if one is

Conceptual Orientation

19

joyful in nature, one must exist and be cognizant as well.

Because Ka is nothing short of joy itself, out of necessity this singular, absolute person is also known in two
other features. As cognizance he is known as Brahman,
and as existence, Paramtm. In his Paramtm feature,
he manifests and presides over the material world and
enters the heart of every atomic soul as a witness to all. In
his Brahman feature, he brings material existence to life.
These two features of Ka are realized by those
who tread the paths of yoga and knowledge (jna) respectively. Those who tread the path of devotion know
him as Bhagavn, or he who possesses all attractiveness.
These devoted transcendentalists know this ultimate
feature of the Absolute in two ways, either through devotion steeped in awe and reverence (vaidh-bhakti) as
the majestic Godhead appearing in innumerable incarnations or through passionate love (rgnug-bhakti) as
Ka, the charming humanlike lover.
Ka, the charming humanlike Godhead, is the
ultimate object of love, depicted by the Gauya Vedn
tins as an eternal youth, the rural cowherder of dark
complexion resembling a rain cloud. As the cloud is
pregnant with rain, Ka is full in himself yet showering
love in all directions and celebrating his fullness, and in
this way nourishing all. Ka is the God of the Ved
nta of aesthetics, not a dry philosophical principle but
the ultimate personinfinitely beautiful, charming,
soft-hearted, yet strong willed. He has innumerable

20

Joy of Self

transcendental qualities and engages in pastimes with his

eternal retinue. Flute-bearing, he charms his devotees
with passionate spiritual love free from material con
tamination.
He is the perfect object of love because all potential
for love in transcendence can be realized in him. When
Ka becomes the object of ones love, one can realize
not only love steeped in a reverence that is appropriate
for the greatest of persons, but love in friendship, the
filial love one feels for ones child, and, in the optimum,
passionate love for God. Ka is thus the supreme Godhead, the acme of theism and transcendental realization,
in that it is love that we all seek in eternity. Being the
perfect object of love, Ka is thus objectively supreme
through an analysis of love.
Ka is surrounded by his primary energy appearing as his own family, friends, abode, and paraphernalia.
This primary energy ultimately personifies the potency
of pleasure, hldin. Known also as Rdh, Kas eternal consort, she is the shelter of ultimate love. The object of love, r Ka, and the shelter of love, r Rdh,
together constitute the Godhead as complimentary features of the Absolute. There is no meaning to Ka without Rdh and no meaning to Rdh without Ka. In
the eternal drama of their transcendental lives, we can
play a small yet infinitely important part.
The conceptual orientation presented in the Bhgavata offers great hope to suffering humanity. It tells us

Conceptual Orientation

21

that we can experience eternal love in relation to Ka,

the object of perfect love. Love for Ka stands as a perfect example of the highest love. The reality of RdhKa speaks sweetly, assuring us of all that we aspire
for, should we but turn in the right direction. To live in
perfect love and joy is possible when we repose our loving propensity in Rdh-Ka. All other attempts for
love are futile, for they are off-center at best. Time tells
us that nothing belongs to us. Gauya Vednta tells us
that everything belongs to Ka. Loving Ka enables
us to transcend the false proprietorship that has imprisoned us within time and space, leaving self-centered
material consciousness forever and entering the land
of love.

5. T h e M e a n s
In accordance with our conceptual orientation, sambandha, we will act. This action is the means, abhidheya, by which we can achieve our goal. All that the
Bhgavata deals with in terms of achieving its stated
goal, as well as that activity which inhibits us from
doing so, falls under the category of abhidheya. The
goal is love of Ka, which constitutes the highest
joy, and the means is devotion to Ka. Acts adverse
to devotion are those to be avoided.
The Bhgavata defines the best means as that which
completely satisfies the Supreme Self. If God is pleased,
so will we, his parts and parcels, be satisfied. Devotion
to Ka that is free from ulterior motive and uninterrupted is that which satisfies Ka. Devotion in which
something other than the pleasure of the Supreme is
desired is called mixed devotion (mir bhakti). Devotion

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Joy of Self

can be mixed with worldly desires (karma-mir bhakti),

the desire for liberation (jna-mir bhakti), or the desire for mystic perfection (yoga-mir bhakti). All of these
types of bhakti are not pure, or unmotivated. They bring
results to their respective practitioners in the form of
good karma, liberation, and mystic perfection. They do
not, however, afford their practitioners love of Godhead.
The path of karma focuses on material betterment,
the path of knowledge upon liberation. The path of yoga
is concerned with liberation, as well as acquiring mystic
power. The path of pure devotion, however, is not about
acquiring anything other than devotion itself. It is thus
to be executed for its own improvement. It is a spiritual
and thus eternal means to a spiritual end.
The Bhgavata speaks of the socio-religious system of
varrama-dharma. This is the religious way of life also
known as the path of karma, whereby we can prosper in
this life and the next. It organizes society in consideration of karmic propensities, both in terms of occupation
as well as spiritual pursuit. This conception of dharma is
only successfully executed if as a result of ones observance of its tenets one enters the path of pure devotion
(uddha-bhakti).
Although participation in the socio-religious system requires many prerequisites, this is not the case on
the path of pure devotion. Similarly, other paths aimed
at transcendence of birth and death, such as the paths of
yoga and knowledge, also require that participants meet

The Means

25

various prerequisites. To practice yoga properly, one

must observe celibacy. The path of knowledge requires
purity of heart, renunciation, and equal vision. These are
not easy things to achieve. Pure devotion, however, can
be cultivated from the time one has awakened faith in
Ka.
It is noteworthy that efficacy in any of these paths
requires a mixture of devotion. Without devotion, the
practitioners in these systems will not achieve their desired goals. It is devotion, therefore, that is the means in
all respects.
The paths of karma, yoga, and knowledge are not
helpful to pure devotion. Before pure devotion has
awakened in the heart, practice borrowed from these
paths may be helpful in the same way that pushing a car
whose battery has died will help to start the car. Once
the car is started, however, of what use will pushing be?
Similarly, once pure devotion has awakened in the heart,
it cannot be helped by anything else. Moreover, only
when devotion is free from the tendencies born of karma,
knowledge, and yoga can it be said to be pure.
Devotional service to Ka can be practiced in all
circumstances, at all times, and by all living entities. This
further attests to its spiritual nature. The Bhgavatam is
ripe with examples of persons engaging in devotional
service to Ka in even the most adverse circumstances.
Prahlda Mahrja, for example, performed bhakti in his
mothers womb.

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Joy of Self

With regard to time, the Bhgavatam also gives examples of persons engaging in devotional service from
the beginning to the end of time, from creation to annihilation. Devotional service is even engaged in after
liberation by those who have perfected their devotional
culture. Devotional service, although primarily the prerogative of human society, also overflows into animal
and plant society. When devotees engage in devotional
service, animals such as cows, whose milk is offered to
the deity of Ka, also participate in bhakti, as do plants
when offered to the deity. Such animals and plants,
however, cannot practice yoga or culture knowledge of
the Absolute. One cannot perform yoga at all times, such
as during sleep, nor does the practice of yoga continue
after liberation. Similarly, the culture of knowledge insists on many prerequisites and cannot be performed in
all circumstances.
Devotional service to Ka has three divisions: devotional service in practice (sadhana-bhakti), devotional
service in ecstasy (bhva-bhakti), and devotional service
in love of God (prema-bhakti). Devotion to Ka is also
divided into devotion guided by scriptural injunction
(vaidh-bhakti) and spontaneous devotion (rgnugbhakti).
r Chaitanya has emphasized spontaneous devotion. His disciples, the legendary six goswms of
Vndvana, have demonstrated in their writings based
on the Bhgavata how spiritual aspirants can cultivate

The Means

27

spontaneous devotion. Generally one is required to embrace regulative devotional service with a view to gradually develop spontaneous devotion. In the material
world the soul is spontaneously moving in the direction of material pursuit. This spontaneity can be harnessed by regulative devotion and through spiritual
practices directed to Ka. Gradually ones devotion
for Ka will be as spontaneous as a young girls love
for a young boy.
In devotional service in practice, one follows the
guidelines of the guru and gradually cleanses ones
heart of material desire. When the heart is almost free of
karmic influences, one becomes fixed in devotion. One
then develops a taste for devotional practices and gradually begins to hanker for a particular loving relationship
with Ka. One may like to serve Ka as a servant,
friend, well-wisher, or lover. At this stage one passes
from devotional service in practice to devotional service
in ecstasy and experiences deep spiritual emotions that,
when cultivated, bring one to the perfection of devotional service in love of God.
The principal practice of devotional service is chanting the names of God. This chanting is performed in
group singing (krtana) with musical accompaniment. r
Chaitanya accompanied his group chanting with hand
cymbals and a simple clay drum indigenous to West
Bengal. These instruments are considered eternal participants in group chanting. Other instruments may also

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Joy of Self

be used, yet one must be careful to distinguish between

a musical presentation and that which is spiritual. Too
much emphasis on the musical and instrumental accompaniment may shift the focus of the chanting from the
mantra to the instruments and melody, thus rendering it
less than spiritual. To avoid this problem, the chanting
should be performed under the auspices of a pure devotee of Ka.
The pure devotee is the guru who initiates the disciple. At that time the disciple is given a rosary of 108
beads and is instructed to chant the Ka mantra on the
rosary a prescribed number of times daily. The disciple
is also engaged in ritualistic devotion in the temple of
Ka. In this way the disciple engages throughout the
day in hearing and chanting about Ka and carrying
out the instruction of the guru. This may find a disciple
engaged in a wide variety of services all for the pleasure
of Ka. As the disciples consciousness is purified, he
or she learns to meditate internally upon Ka twentyfour hours a day.
Many persons interested in devotional service are
not able to take up the life of devotion described above.
They can, however, accept initiation from the guru. They
can learn to chant Kas name in their homes and sacrifice what time and energy they can for the mission of
r Chaitanya. The guru will give them guidelines to follow in their home life. As they consciously make sacrifices for Ka in the form of time and financial support

The Means

29

for his mission, their hearts become gradually purified

of the false notion of proprietorship. As they realize that
everything belongs to Ka, they too can take up the
life of devotion and eventually attain love of Ka.

6. The Goal
The fruit of devotional service is love of Ka. As
such, all sections of the Bhgavatam that deal directly with the experience of love of God, as well as
those sections that deal with the fruits of religion
(dharma), economic development (artha), sense enjoyment (kma), and liberation (moka), constitute direct and indirect descriptions of the goal (prayojana).
In describing the fruits of activities other than pure
devotion, the Bhgavatam seeks to point out indirectly
the glory of love of Ka, for the fruits of religion, economic development, sense gratification, and even liberation from the cycle of birth and death are paltry in comparison.
Joy is our stated or unstated goal of life. The joy
derived from love of Ka is the highest kind of joy.
It is joy that is derived from making the perfect object

31

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Joy of Self

of love ones loving repose. This joy is the opposite

of material joy, in which one makes ones own joy the
goal, misconstruing oneself to be the body and mind.
In transcendental love, the satisfaction of Kas
transcendental senses is the only thought of the perfect
devotees. They do not seek joy independent of the joy
of the Absolute. While material joy is selfish and selfcentered, the joy derived from love of Ka is based on
sacrifice, giving, and the self-forgetfulness that true love
calls for, and thus it constitutes the highest love.
The question arises, however, as to how it is that the
Absolute is in need of anything. How does r Ka derive pleasure from those who love him? Is he not full in
himself to begin with? He is indeed, yet as we have seen,
he is surrounded by his own inner energy (svarpa-akti),
with whom he eternally consorts. His inner power manifests as eternal associates in five primary moods with
whom he eternally enjoys the bliss of his own nature.
The five primary moods are known as bhakti-rasa, aesthetic rapture in transcendence.
The Bhgavatam describes the Absolute philosophically as well as through aesthetic analysis. According to
the Indian discipline of aesthetics, the soul of aesthetic
experience is termed rasa. In the Upaniads the Absolute
is also described by this term, raso vai sa, The Absolute
is aesthetic experience. The Bhgavatam develops this
concept. It is thus both a book of Vednta philosophy
and one concerned with aesthetics. It is a philosophy of

The Goal

33

beauty, the truth that is beauty. It directs us to Ka and

the possibility of entering a transcendental relationship
with the Absolute, the possibility of experiencing rasa.
Bhakti rasa develops in the atomic soul in the course
of cultivating one of five primary emotions directed to
the perfect object of love, Ka. These primary Kacentered emotions are the essence of Kas eternal
associates (pradas), who are constituted of his inner
power. Thus atomic souls can enter into the eternal love
affair of the Absolute by taking shelter of r Kas inner power, manifest as his eternal associates.
The five primary rasas are neutrality (nta), servitorship (dsya), friendship (sakhya), parental love (vtsalya),
and conjugal love (mdhurya). Thus one can love Ka
in neutrality, as a servant, as a friend, as his well-wisher,
and as his lover. r Chaitanya has revealed that conjugal love for Ka is the best amongst transcendental
achievements.
Kas consorts thus exemplify to the fullest
extent the life of transcendental love. All of the other
transcendental rasas in effect serve as a necessary
background for the eternal drama of conjugal love
of Godhead enacted between Rdh and Ka. This
drama takes place in the guise of humanity, as r
Ka, the Supreme Truth, comes so close to his part
and parcels that the affair at a glance seems no more
than the love of a young village boy and girl. However,
it is much more than this and is certainly free from

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Joy of Self

all material inebriety. The land, water, trees, animals,

birds, and people in this transcendental drama (ll)
are all supra-mundane. Nothing there is touched by
material illusion, and one can realize this dimension of
consciousness and experience the highest joy only when
one is free from the selfishness that makes for a material
life of unhappiness. While selfishness is the basis of the
material plane of consciousness, selflessness forms the
basis of the spiritual dimension of consciousnessKa
consciousness. This is our highest prospect, within
which lies the joy of self.

About the author :

Swm B.V. Tripurri is a
renowned writer, speaker,
and spiritual teacher. A
monk in the renounced
order of life since 1972,
he received his training
from some of the most
accomplished masters in
the Gauya tradition. He is the founder of r Caitanya
Sangha, which has monasteries in Northern California,
North Carolina, and Costa Rica.